Beverage dispensing counter



Dec'. 29, 1931. M. L WIENER 1,839070 BEVERAGE DISPENSING COUNTER Filed Mafch 13, 1928 INVENTOR.

BY v )7; I av Mm Z ATTORNEYS.

H This invention has for its object generally F igs l and 2 and are adapted to provide a 5 Patented Dec. 29, 1931 1 V Y i V UNITED. STATES- PATENT- OFFICE;

MARTIN L. wrnnnn, or new Yonign. BnvnnAen DISPENSING- ooun'rnn Application filed March 13, 1928; 7 Serial No. 261,274.

This invention relates to counters adapted members 13 which are secured to the ends of for the dispensing ofbeverages and the like the front member 10. These side members, as and particularly to counters which'are portwill be seen, swing about a vertical axis when able. the counter is fully set up as indicated in to provide a counter of the character specified support extending backwardly from the front which is economical, commodious and readily member to rest upon the floor and prevent the manufactured. v counter from tipping. These side members More specifically, an object .is to provide by reason oftheir manner of mounting on the .u; a counter whichis collapsible, that is, one "post members 13 can be folded inwardly 69 which may be folded up and set out of the against the rear side of the front member so way, but, when desired for use, may be set as to assume theposition indicated by dotted up'in any convenient place and is also of a lines at 14. This permits the folded-up councharacter such as to be sufliciently ornate as ter-to have a very narrow appearance when 15 a piece of furniture that it may be set in a viewed in profile as'indicated in. Fig. 4:.

7 drawing room or dining room. V In order to preserve the arcade appearance Other objects of the invention will part of the cabinet when viewed from the side, it

be obvious and will in part appear hereinis desirable that the oint of the hinged side after; member shall be coincident with the edge of 20 The invention accordingly comprises the the post 13, since otherwise a crack might features ofconstruction, combination of eleappear.' .To this end the hinge for the side ments, and arrangementof parts, which will member is set back from the vertical edge of be exemplified in the construction hereinthe'post 13 so that the joint between the side after set forth and the scope of the applica member and the post when swung to the open .25 tion of which will be indicated in the claims. position is consequently concealed by the Referring now to the drawings and particthe same, having a sufficient width to pro- For a fuller understanding of the nature overhanging edge of the post 13. and objects of theinvention reference should The top member 15 which servesas the actube had to the following detailed description al counter in the device of the present inventalren in connection with'the accompanying tion is also pivotally secured to the front 3.0 drawings, inwhich: f member 10 and is adapted to fold about a Fig; 1 is a front elevation of the counter horizontally-disposed hingel16 as indicated in assembled relation constructed in accordin Fig.4. This top member is held in place ance with the invention; i l i when the side members have been unfolded Fig. 2 shows a view of the counter in side to the position shown in Fig. 3, the side memelevation; v i i bersformingthe support for'the same as indi- I 7 Fig.3 shows afragmentary top plan view cated in Fig. 2. This top member may have of the counter, parts being broken away in any convenient shape and may be recessed as order better to illustrate thestructural fea indicatedat 17 in Fig. 3. 'In order that the tures hereof; i f :top member 15 may freely swing to the downn" Fig. 4 shows a sideview ofthe counter ward position shown in Fig. 1, the top memwhen collapsed; and i her is hinged to a fixed member 18 mounted Fig. 5 shows afragmentary detailed sechorizontally across the top ofthe front memtional view of a' portion of the counter strucb er. This horizontal portion 18 is shown ture. more clearly in detail in Fig. 5 and surmounts ularly to Fig. 1, 10 denotes a front member ject over the side members when folded into which rearwardly projecting side members wardly against the front member. It is thus 11 are hingedly secured by means of hinges seen that the hinge 16 is outside the sidememsuch as shown at 12 in Fig. 3, these hinges her when folded inwardly against the front being secured to the inside portion of the post member so that the top member-may be swung 1? downwardly as indicated in Fig. 4, without unduly straining any of the parts. lhe horizontal member 18 is so constructed as to have a surface flush with the top of the top member 15.

In order that the top member may have cups and glasses set thereon without danger of displacement, it is preferable that the top member should have an upstanding edge or bead as indicated at 19 around its front and sides. This bead may be discontinued at the point of junction between the horizontal member and the top member so that they may be readily bent apart, but when the top mem her is swung to the position shown in Fig. 2, the separate bead portions come into conjunction and form substantially continuous bead about the upper edge.

In order to enhance the appearance of the counter construction, thus provided in the present invention a horizontal rail 20 is mounted in front of; the same, which rail may be of tubular metal or other suitable construction. In order that this rail may not cause the counter to occupy unduespace when in collapsed posit-ion indicated in Fig. i, the rail itself is pivotally attached to the front member. This is conveniently accomplished by means of a pair of parallel lin s 21 and 22 which are pivoted first to projecting prongs and. 24 that are made fast to the front member, these links connecting at their other end with similar prongs 25 and 26 associated with the rail. The latter is seen to project from a downwarc ly-extending pedestal or support 27 that may be mounted on the rail preferably near its ends. The rail 20 and pedestal 27 by reason of the mounting by means of parallel links may be conveniently folded up against the front member indicated in i so as to occupy relatively little space. The distance which the rail and its pedestals project from the front member when in this folded-up position is seen to depend substantially upon the length of the prongs 23, 24, 25 and 26. It is obvious from the construction employed that these prongs may he made as short as convenient so that the rail can be folded to occupy substantially minimum of space.

It will be seen that the counter device of the present invention can be made of front,

side and top members to have any desired dimensions but it is preferable that these dimensions should be such that the counter shall be portable and thereby enable the same to be brought into and out of drawing rooms, dining rooms and the like as a piece of furniture and can be collapsed when desired, so as to be put away or avoid occupying useful space. he manner in which the counter is collapsed'will be obvious from the above description.

It will also be obvious that the counter when set up and provided with a foot rail in accordance with the present invention, when the foot rail is in the position shown in Fig. 2, imparts a relatively high degree of stability to the counter, so there is little danger in its tipping forward. While the link arrangement here employed for connecting the rail in a collapsible condition to the counter is not in itself a rigid structure, it is seen that thislinkage shifts the centre about which the counter would be tipped when tipping forward from the floor to points above the floor. so that there is no common axis about which the counter tends to tilt.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

a Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a counter for dispensing beverages and the like, and adapted to be collapsed, the combination comprising a front member having end-posts, side-members hinged to said end-posts and adapted to swing back against said front-members, a horizontalmember secured across the top of the frontmember and projecting to a point substantially flush with the rear edges of said sidemembers when collapsed, a horizontal rail disposed across the front of said front member near the base thereof having supporting pedestals secured thereon, and a four-bar linkage adapted to secure said pedestals and rail to said front-member whereby the same may be collapsed when not in use.

2. A portable counter for dispensing beverages comprising a front member, side members hinged thereto and a top member having a hinge piece rigidly affixed with respect to the front member and extending rearwardly of the infolded side members, said top member in set up position resting near its ends upon the extended side members; a pair of pedestals, a pair of parallel-motion linkages each in a vertical plane and :u'iixed to said front member near the lower end thereof and carrying said pedestals, and a horizontal rail affixed to said pedestals. whereby the rail may be collapsed against the panel of the collapsed counter for storage of the latter when out of use.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

MARTIN L. WIENEB.

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